An Episcopal priest blogs, mostly for the purpose to keeping a sort-of training journal. Bikes, triathlons, more bikes, and maybe the occasional cat picture.
Personal mantra: "Never make decisions while going up a hill."

Monday, June 24, 2013

Friday Adventure

I wonder if I (and several of my teammates) are suffering from Early Taper. A few of us have had major life stress in the last year and while we like being active, we are just exhausted. I kind of want to go swimming and ride my bike and sit on the couch. Last year, I was all revved up and excited by everyone's different race reports, and this year I feel like a Curmudgeon: "Don'tcha'all want to just sit down and stop racing them damn bikes all the time?"

Seriously. Let's have a nice, fun, no-stress bike ride, and then let's have a nice lemonade, preferably on a shady porch with a swing. I still want to ride my bike, but it's stressing me out to think "Oh, can I ride today, or is this a long run day??"

So last Friday, we went for our Friday Adventures. These have been a series of things we do together on Friday. We shut off Facebook (I even delete the app from my phone these days!), turn off internet, and head out for a low-tech fun time. We usually pack a picnic.

We went walking on the Eagle Creek trail. We were pretty much entirely under tree cover the whole day.

We saw lots of wildlife. HUGE slugs, lots of huge slugs. Should I spare you the picture?

Nah. That is M's hand, by the way. Dude's 6 feet tall. That's a beeg slug!

I started calling these Easter Egg snails. Their shells were pretty brown, but their bodies were all different colors!

And my favorites:

Salamanders! We saw dozens of these guys. M even got a great sunny picture of one, but that's on his phone. At some point, I will replace my poor broken-down Canon Powershot (the digital display went out, and I just haven't gotten around to replacing it yet), and my pictures will be nice and clear again.

Overall, it was a nice adventurous hike of 4+ hours! We took a rice pilaf dressed with a nice Thrive dressing, but actually didn't eat it- we just weren't hungry on the trail. So, later on, after we'd cleaned up from the super muddy trail:

one's shoe worth of mud. Seriously, it's like cement, if you let it dry!

We re-packed our picnic into our adorable little picnic basket- best anniversary gift ever! we use it ALL THE TIME!- and we went to a local winery that was having a free tasting party and inviting picnics.

Our dinner view.

Overall, we agreed it was one of the best Friday adventures so far! Active, new to both of us, and very tasty!

About Me

Episcopal priest and Emergency chaplain. Starting doing triathlons to rehab after a bike crash. Bikes remain first great love. Works for God. Wants to cure PTSD one day. Specializes in trauma and drama... What's not to like?